Koch’s Demagoguery Undermines Pluralism and Democracy

“What, in the changed conditions after the war [WWI], Hitler was able to most [significantly] exploit was the belief that pluralism was somehow unnatural or unhealthy in a society, that it was a sign of weakness, and that internal division and disharmony could be suppressed and eliminated, to be replaced by the unity of a national community.” (Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889-1936).

from Characteristics of Demagoguery by Trish Roberts-Miller

As part of my series on exposing the Koch brothers as reinvented John Birchers, I found a good article that explains demagoguery and the related dangers. Please refer to my last few articles on the Kochs that describe their history, ideology, and their agenda to eliminate anything that is related to collectivism.

Characteristics of Demagoguery

Demagoguery is polarizing propaganda that motivates members of an ingroup to hate and scapegoat some outgroup(s), largely by promising certainty, stability, and what Erich Fromm famously called “an escape from freedom.” It significantly undermines the quality of public argument for reasons and in ways discussed below. In the most abstract, the reason it is so harmful is that it creates and fosters a situation in which it is actively dangerous to criticize dominant views, cultures, and political groups. It makes discourse a kind of coercion, largely through rousing and appealing to hate. Thus, the very people who make the decisions cannot hear all the information they need. Historically, demagoguery is a precursor to the ending of democracy—that is, when demagogues succeed, their first move is almost always to restrict the power of the people or parliaments in favor of some kind of tyrannical or totalitarian system.

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